Daijiworld Media Network
Kozhikode, Feb 16: Two years after the heinous rape case of a 16-year old from Kannur came to light, the Thalassery POCSO Court has convicted Fr Robin Vadakkumchery of the Mananthavady diocese, who was accused of raping and impregnating the minor in 2016. The girl had given birth to a child on February 7, 2017.
The POCSO court has acquitted 6 other accused - 5 nuns from the Christu Raj convent and 1 administrator who were accused of covering up the incident for lack of substantial evidence.
The court awarded 20 years of rigourous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lac to priest.
The verdict was pronounced by Thalassery POCSO Court Judge P N Vinod.
Though the priest was awarded a total of 60 years imprisonment on various charges, he can serve all the sentences together. Rs 1.5 lac from the fine should be given to the girl. The court also directed to take action against the girl’s parents who gave false statements.
The court verdict against Fr Robin was primarily on the basis of the victim's live birth certificate that showed that she was a minor in 2016 when the rape happened. Moreover, the DNA of the child born in 2017 matched with Robin's, proving unequivocally that he was behind the rape of the minor who was studying in a church run institution.
Fr Robin was arrested on February 27, 2017 when he was trying to escape to Canada.
The priest had first tried to implicate the girl's father as the accused. A DNA test subsequently proved that Fr Robin is the biological father of the child.
The case took on several twists and turns after the news broke out, exposing how deep the power network ran within the church as an institution. In fact, at one point, owing to the unbearable pressure, the girl's father had even claimed that he had raped his own daughter and impregnated her.
The survivor was a student at the school where Fr Robin was teaching and had allegedly been raped by him several times in 2016. The abuse led to her giving birth at the Christu Raj Hospital, a church run institution.
Police say that the then 16-year-old girl had been admitted after she complained of stomach ache. Her parents kept the minor in the dark and told her that she was being operated upon for appendicitis. The incident came to light after Childline Kannur received an anonymous letter.
While Fr Robin was the prime accused in the case, seven other accused had also been booked under POCSO for allegedly helping him cover up the incident.
Fr Robin was posted at the Mananthavady Catholic diocese's church at Kottiyur in Kannur three years ago. He also worked as the manager of a school attached to the church. The victim girl was a Plus-One student at the school.
The girl and her parents had turned hostile during the trial. The other accused in the case were Thankamma Nelliyani, who allegedly helped Fr Robin to cover up the issue, Dr Liss Mariya, Sr Aneetta, Sr Ophelia, Fr Thomas Joseph Therakam, former chairman of Wayanad Child Welfare Committee, and Dr Betty Jose.
The others allegedly assisted Fr Robin to shift the baby and the mother soon after the delivery to an orphanage at Vythiri in Wayanad violating rules and regulations. The Supreme Court had exempted the accused three to five from the case.
Legal circles believe that the shift in stance of the victims and parents will not affect the case. In a recent verdict, the Supreme Court had affirmed the conviction of an accused in a rape case even after the victim turned hostile. It had also suggested prosecuting the victims for turning hostile in such cases.
The court held that if there is sufficient evidence to fix the guilt, the accused can be convicted. "Neither the accused nor the victim can be permitted to subvert a criminal trial by stating falsehood and resort to contrivances, so as to make it the theatre of the absurd," the SC bench said.